Article of luggage



Sept. 5, 1933. s. AFTER 1,925,946

ARTICLE OF LUGGAGE Z Sheets-Sheet 1 gwuentoz .Filed 001;. 21, 1930 Seal Apt:

W ll\\\\\\\\\\ Sept. 5, 1933.

S. APTER ARTICLE OF LUGGAGE File Oct. 21 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 amnioc- Patented Sept. 5, 1933 rar Application ()ctober 21,

5 Claims.

This invention relates to an article of luggage such as a traveling case and has for its principal object to provide such an article with means for carrying fabrics, dresses and the like so as to 5 preclude wrinkling and mussing thereof.

Another object is to provide a case comprising such means which are adjustable to accommodate fabric articles of different lengths.

Another object is to provide such means which are simple in use and in manufacture.

These and other objects are attained by the means described herein and set forth in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a case in position and provided with carrying means of this invention with a fabric article placed thereon.

Fig. 2 is a view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view taken on line 33 of Fig.

i is a view similar to Fig. 2 and showing a modification of the means of this invention.

F'g. 5 is a View taken on line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a detail view of a part of the present structure.

Fig. l is a view taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is a View taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 9, l0 and 11 are detail views of parts of the invention.

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary View showing a modification of parts seen in Fig. 5.

The case may comprise a box-shaped body 15 having a lid or cover 16 of similar form hinged thereto, as indicated at 29. The dress carrying means of this invention are disposed within cover secured to sides 18 of cover 16 adjacent the rear thereof. Brackets 17 extend diagonally from the rear toward the front of cover 16 seen in Figs. 2 and 4 and have spaced, inwardly projecting eyes 19 formed along the length thereof, such as by striking slitted portions of the brackets outwardly of the body portions thereof (Fig. "1).

The main carrying or holding element consists of a frame2l0 having parallel arms 21 with hooks 22 formed on their lower ends and adapted to be removably inserted, one each, in one of the eyes 19 on opposite sides of the cover. Arms 21 are joined adjacent the top and bottom by transverse rods 23 having a sheet 2 1 of fabric or the like stretched therebetween. The upper ends 25 of arms 21 project above upper rod 23 to provide handles for inserting and removing said arms. Two or more removable bands 26, preferably elastic, having hook elements 27 at the end thereof for reception in slots 28 of arms 21, are

1930. Serial No. 490,206

disposed on opposite sides of sheet 24 (see Fig. 9). A pair of oppositely-disposed support lugs 29 are pivotally mounted upon brackets 30 attached to the sides 18 of the cover. Said brackets and lugs may be provided with comple- A mentary depressions for snapping the lugs into inwardly projecting positions at which time they extend through the pivotal paths of arms 21 and serve to retain said arms in upright positions, that is, parallel with the surface of cover 16. To pivotally move arms 21, the lugs 29 are swung upwardly as shown in dotted lines on the left side of Fig. 1.

The secondary dress holding frame 310, in H the structure shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, is disposed above the means just described, that is, it extends farther toward the front of the traveling case. These secondary means comprise a pair of short parallel arms 31 rigidly joined by a transverse strip 32 and pivotally mounted at 33 upon brackets 34 attached to sides 18. Above the pivot mountings 33, the arms 31 and brackets 34 are provided with snap depressions 35 for holding the said arms in an upwardly projecting p position (see Fig. 8). The tops of arms 31 flare outwardly and are provided on their inner sides with longitudinally-extending slots 36. The end trunnions 3'7 of a transverse rod 38 are removably receivable in said slots for positioning rod 38. Said rod, and also rods 23, may be covered with some suitable soft material and provided with suitable end caps 39. A positioned dress is illustrated clearly in Fig. 3. This is accomplished by removing the primary holding means, disposing an intermediate portion of the dress over lower rod 23 and then passing the adjacent end of the dress beneath front band 26, over upper rod 23 and thereafter beneath rear band 26. The hook ends 22 are now inserted in one of the oppositely-disposed pairs of eyes 19. If the dress is a long one, one of the lowermost pairs of eyes is utilized. The upper end of the dress is now passed over rod 38 of the secondary holding means which is held in a forwardlypivoted position until the adjacent end of the dress has been placed beneath the strip 32, after which the arms 31 are snapped into their upwardly-extending positions.

A modification of the secondary holding frame is seen in Fig. 4. Herein a pair of long arms 58 is pivotally mounted close above the brackets 17. The mounting may be effected by pivoting the lower end of each of said arms as indicated at 40, upon the sides 18 of the cover. The arms 58 are held in their normal positions each by a resilient finger 41 (Fig. 10) attached to cover 16. Intermediate 'the ends of each arm a study 42 is fixed, said stud being receivable in the elongated slot 43 of fa support strip 44 pivoted at 45 upon side 16, whereby forward movement of arms 58, when free of fingers 41, is limited. Adjacent the top of arms 53 and against the inner sides thereof, an auxiliary frame comprising a transverse strip 46 is pivotally mounted. Strip 46 has short side arms 47 the free ends of which are pivoted at 48 to arms 58. Arms 47 are held in upwardly extending parallelism with arms 58 by means of the cooperating de pressions 49. A transverse bar 50 normally joins the upper ends of arms 58, being provided with socket members 51 (Fig. 6) receivable upon side walls, of a pair of said ends and removable therefrom,

After a dress has been positioned upon the primary frame as explained, it is brought up through the outwardly-swivelled strip 46 and then passed over the removed bar 50. The latter is then positioned by means of its sockets, and strip 46 is pivoted into. the position seen in Fig. 4, for holding the dress in association with the secondary frame.

A modification of the strip 46 for use with shorter dresses is shown in Fig. 12. Herein the strip 52 is plvotally mounted, as at 53, on the outerside of and close to the tops of arms 58 so that it may be swung upwardly over the bar 50. This is done when a dress is being placed in position. After bar 50 has been replaced, strip 52 is swung downwardly as indicated in dotted lines, Fig. l2,'for holding a dress in position.

In Fig. llpanother form of filling sheet 24 is illustrated in cross section. Herein, a section 54 of material such as stiff cardboard is usedqin-,

stead of ordinary cloth. Both surfaces of sheet 54 may be covered with fabric 55. The sheet may beattached to bars 23 by gluing extensions 56 of bar-covering material 5'7 to the adjacent edges of the filling sheet. The chief advantage of this structure lies in thefact thata dress is held by bands 26, suificiently firmly against the filling sheet as not to slide or crowd when the traveling case is tilted or set down onits side, whereby an additional protection against wrinkled clothing is provided.

What is'claimed is:

1. An article of luggage comprising a body, a

box-like cover having sides, a primary dress-' holding frame comprising spaced, parallel arms pivotallymounted adjacent the rear of the cover on the inner sides of'the cover and having a pair of spaced parallel rods positioned trans-y versely thereof, a secondary dress-holdingframe positioned above said primary frame and coming a transverse rod removably positioned thereon; means on said frames for retaining in association therewith. a dress placed thereon,

and means for holding said frames in substantial parallelism withthe cover. 2. An article of luggage comprising a body, 2..

lar frame pivotally mounted between said walls adjacent the rear of the cover, and extending toward the front thereof, a second frame pivotally mounted between said walls and projecting toward the front of the cover to a greater extent than said first frame, the first frame being adapted to have a fabric article folded over the top and bottom portions of the frame, said second frame being adapted to hold the unsupported portions of the fabric article after initial disposition of said article upon the first frame, means for holding the fabric article in associa- .tion with said frames, and means for removably retaining said frames in spaced substantial parallelism with the cover. I

3. They combination with a receptacle having oppositely-disposed brackets attached to two of said walls in diagonal relationship therewith and provided with spaced hook-receiving means projecting inwardly of the receptacle, a pair of arms having hook shaped lower ends adapted for reception .in said receiving means, a pair of parallel bars,

extending transversely of said arms, one adjacent the top, the other adjacent the bottom thereof, asheet of light material attached to said bars and substantially filling the space between the arms and the bars, a pair of oppositely disposed shorter arms pivotally attached to said two walls adjacent the front of the receptacle and extending beyond said first pair of arms, a transverse bar removably mounted between said short arms, said parallel bars being adapted to have a fabric article initially folded thereover, said removable bar being adapted to have the remaining length of the fabric article folded thereover, means for retaining said article in association with said bars, and means for removably holding said pairs of arms in position within the receptacle.

4. The combination with an article of luggage having a cover with side walls, of a fiat, traylike member adapted to be pivotally mounted between said walls and to have a fabric article folded thereover, means precluding sliding of the positioned article relative to the tray-like member, means for holding said member within the cover and in substantial parallelism therewith and means for remounting said member in longitudinally and transversely adjusted positions relative to said walls.

5. The combination with an article of luggage having a cover with side walls, of a tray-like member adapted to have a fabric article folded thereover and to be mounted pivotally in adjusted positions between said walls, said memberrcomprising a pair of parallel arms with parallel, spaced bars therebetween, the enclosed area being filled by a sheet of stiff material precluding sliding movement of the positioned fabric article relative to the tray-like member, means for holding said member within the cover insubstantial parallelism therewith and for remounting said member in longitudinally and transversely adjusted positions relative to said walls. 7

L SAUL APTER.

cover having side walls, a substantially rectangu- I 

